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Dinosaur Birthday Party

Our son turned two this summer and we celebrated with a little dinosaur themed party. We had originally planned to have a larger outdoor gathering but opted for a smaller indoor occasion which ended up being a huge blessing. Morning sickness had just hit full force - I was throwing up multiple times a day and we weren't ready to share the news too publicly.

Not having to set up a party outside in the heat while trying to hide my pregnancy was a huge gift. So instead we celebrated with my parents who were visiting and our close neighbor friends who already knew I was pregnant.

And it was a friendly reminder that I don't have to do parties like I used to. Having a small gathering ended up being just we needed - and our sweet boy loved simply being with some of his favorite people.

I had a few activities planned that we kept even though we brought the festivities indoors. I originally planned to fill the pool with sand and salt dough dinosaur bones for a dinosaur bone dig. The salt dough never happened and a giant bag of pinto beans I already had made for a much smaller mess!

Unlike his first birthday party, I was happy to see our little guy finally embrace a love for balloons!

For the decorations I used all the dinosaur figurines I could find at Target and made little party hats for them! For the cupcakes I ordered a variety of cupcake toppers from Etsy along with mini dinosaur figurines I ordered on Amazon. I had planned to spray paint the mini dinosaurs gold - but again, another thing that didn't happen! All the large paper leaves I cut out myself.

I love that the cupcakes, serving platters, and paper mache dinosaurs serve as a neutral base. Then by adding mostly green and a few pops of color I had a festive but still sophisticated look.

For paper products, I picked out a few of the dinosaur kid's napkins and plates and mixed and matched them with other color coordinating pieces in the Target party section.

I used the remaining dinosaurs and leaf cutouts to decorate around the house.

This dinosaur in the coffee mug is killing me. I love it so much.

You might say I had a bit of fun getting creative with these dinosaurs! Here they are creeping out of the plants!

See - your house doesn't have to throw up kid's party decorations to still be fun!

Such simple joys for this cute little two year old! He loved the balloons and spotting the dinosaurs.

I printed out a few free dinosaur coloring pages I found online and put them out with crayons.

We ordered pizza from the gas station down the street! Our neighbors who are used to living in the middle of no where had no complaints! I made this amazing Doritos dip (it is so freaking good) and we also served a salad and some fruit. Simple and easy at it's best.

He just loves his neighbor friend!

And cupcake time! We finally let him have a full sugar cupcake for the first time. He had no interest in the frosting but devoured the cake!

Later that day we set up this rainbow hose sprinkler we had been saving for his party (from Cotton On). He loved it and thankfully grandma willingly ran through it with him!

After awhile, things got a little muddy. This last picture makes me laugh so hard! He looks like he just finished a mud run!!!

Then to end the day we finished with gifts sent from family back home as well as his one gift from use - a teepee (from Crate and Kids)!

It was a good day all around - and I ended up only throwing up once that morning! Win for this two year old and his sick mama!

All in all, my lesson from the day was to continue striving for simple but still special when it comes to my child. He doesn't need much - but a little special attention and care can go a long way. I am still trying to navigate the whole don't overdo things or over-spoil your child. And it is a hard balance. So I guess I will say I was thankful I was so sick as it gave me some perspective that I think I needed.

Happy two years sweet boy! We are so proud of the big boy you are becoming!